Category: peppermint

During this time of year, as early educators, we struggle with how to incorporate the Holidays that are so important to our students, while still managing to be inclusive, unbiased, and religious free. Often times we feel as though we cannot “celebrate” anything in the classroom, or we need to touch on every possible holiday to be considered inclusive. And yet so many of these holidays are religious in nature, but we certainly can’t teach that at school. It can be such a headache!

My advice is always to be inclusive of all family traditions. Sometimes this might mean polling your families to see what their traditions are at home. Invite family members in to share a special story or special activity that is important to their family. If a child brings a book from home, read it! Your families will feel included, and your students will feel pride and ownership over their family traditions. With young children who are just so excited about this time of year, it can almost be more harmful to “ignore” their excitement. It is perfectly ok to incorporate their excitement into classroom lessons, particularly when they initiate their thoughts.

There are still tons of activities that you can bring into the classroom that don’t have any ties to particular holidays. One of my favorites are candy canes! The possibilities are literally endless…be sure to stock up on peppermint extract and red food coloring!

Today I am showcasing some of my favorite Science and Sensory activities with a Candy Cane theme. Enjoy!

Growing a Jeweled Rose has this awesome Candy Cane Science Experiment. All kids love baking soda and vinegar, but she gives it a Candy Cane Twist! By adding red food coloring and peppermint extract to the vinegar, there is a delicious peppermint smell and a lovely red hue! The children will be delighted to see the bubbles erupt as they drop vinegar onto the baking soda.

Fun-A-Day created this easy, but totally fun Sensory Bin! She used red colored corn kernels, white Navy Beans, and peppermint extract. And then she added extra tools, like cupcake liners, measuring cups and scoops. Adding the colors and scent bring these fun sensory beans to a whole new level! I can just imagine the children making their pretend cupcakes, entertainment for hours!

Over at Teach Preschool they presented their preschoolers with the Question “What will happen to the Candy Cane if we let it sit in warm water?” And then the used the power of observation to see what would happen! Such a simple idea, but visual learning is the best kind for children at this age!

Every child needs to experiment with Oobleck at least once! Why not make it a Candy Cane version? Science Sparks takes the regular oobleck recipe and adds red food coloring and peppermint extract to add extra sensory elements to this already fascinating concoction. Children will be entertained, amazed, and curious as to why this goo can be a solid one minute and a liquid the next. And it only takes 2 ingredients (in addition to the red food coloring and peppermint extract).

Sensory play doesn’t always have to be messy, but it sure is great sometimes! This “paint” recipes is sure to be a messy and fun time for children of all ages. Obviously you won’t be using the bath at school, but you could still do finger painting, or paint brushing on large paper. This recipe calls for shaving cream, peppermint extract and red food coloring. If you decide to paint on paper, if you add a little bit of liquid glue it will dry just like puffy paint. Kids of all ages would love this, and it will smell great!